Mission Product: SCOTUS Appears Skeptical That Bankrupt Licensor’s Rejection of Trademark License Means Licensee Can’t Use the Mark

On Wednesday, February 20, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC, where the Court was asked to address one of the most important issues at the intersection of trademark law and bankruptcy law: whether a debtor-licensor’s rejection of a trademark license terminates the rights of the licensee to use that trademark. Taking seriously the language of the question presented, and generally acknowledging that 11 U.S.C. § 365(g) provides that rejection constitutes a “breach” of the contract, the justices focused on the remedies for breach outside of bankruptcy law and whether, because trademarks (and quality control issues) are involved, deviation from ordinary, contract law principles is warranted. Both the advocates and the justices returned to whether analogies, including with respect to breaches of apartment and photocopier leases, are apposite. The question of whether the case was moot also received some attention, though it seems unlikely that the case will be dismissed on that ground.
The post Mission Product: SCOTUS Appears Skeptical That Bankrupt Licensor’s Rejection of Trademark License Means Licensee Can’t Use the Mark appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Patent Law.

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